


The drop squad on Feros needs blowtorch coffee

by themoonowl



Series: A Real Hero [4]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: Camping, Coffee, Friendship, Gen, Mass Effect 1, POV Kaidan Alenko, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, feros
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-18
Updated: 2020-09-18
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:47:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 870
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26306578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/themoonowl/pseuds/themoonowl
Relationships: Kaidan Alenko & Ashley Williams, Kaidan Alenko & Male Shepard, Kaidan Alenko/Male Shepard, Male Shepard & Ashley Williams
Series: A Real Hero [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1429021
Comments: 2
Kudos: 9





	The drop squad on Feros needs blowtorch coffee

"Step aside." Williams unloaded her rifle in the blue barrier. It didn't budge.

Kaidan stepped forward, placing a hand. Rock. Solid. "No way to burn through this with the weapons we have."

"I don't know, LT." Williams pulled out her shotgun. "This bad boy might."

"Okay, enough you two. There's got to be another way in." The Commander turned with a grin on his face. "But we won't find it on an empty stomach."

Just as he said that, a deep grumble came from Kaidan's abdomen. Guess he could use a little pickup, especially after all that fighting.

* * *

They set up camp right in front of the door. It was a good position: it was on a slope, overlooking the Mako outside. And if the barrier lifted, they'd have a quick way in. All the three of them needed to do now was relax.

Kaidan did just that, as he watched both his MRE pizza, and the Commander's MRE curry chicken heat up on the makeshift stove.

"Damn it," Williams whispered, and Kaidan turned to her squinting at the bag of coffee they'd gotten from the colony below. "That can't be right."

"Problem, Williams?" the Commander asked.

She tossed him the bag. "I forgot to double check the coffee. It's not instant. And LT already burned through the last of the fuel tabs."

Kaidan checked the stove. The food was almost done. And, "Maybe if you're quick and put some in some water, it can cook before all the fuel burns out."

The Commander pursed his lips and ruffled through his pack. After a while he straightened up with another grin on his face and a mess cup in his hands. "I got an idea," he said, and Kaidan bit down a smile.

He did the standard coffee-making procedure: put some water inside, put a bunch of coffee in too—before asking everyone if they wanted some—and held the cup above his open palm.

His hand lit up orange with his omni-tool, followed by a flash of blue torchfire that barely scraped the bottom of the cup.

"Well that's a creative way of going about it," Kaidan said. "Think it'll work?"

"I know it will." The Commander turned to him again, a smug, but oddly warm smile on his face. "Me and my dad used to do this a lot. Sometimes you're too lazy to go to a proper stove to make coffee."

"You could've just bought a gas one." Williams' voice came out joined by the loud crinkle of a chocolate bar wrap. "Those come pretty cheap."

"I suppose. This was a lot more fun, however."

The curry chicken sounded like it had started to bubble, and the fuel tab began to lose power, too. Kaidan put them away, but kept the stove on, just in case.

But that 'just in case' wasn't even needed.

Shepard's coffee began to boil not long after, and he turned the blowtorch function on his omni-tool off, just as the liquid almost overflowed from his cup.

The three of them finally sat down in a comfortable little circle: Kaidan and Shepard with their food, Williams with her chocolate bar, and everyone with their fresh made coffee, from which Williams took the first sip.

"Huh."

"Everything okay, Chief?"

"Yeah. Just didn't expect blowtorch coffee to turn out  _ good _ , sir."

Kaidan took a sip of his, its smell inviting. And _ —damn. _ It tasted like something he'd drink in a fancy café somewhere, not out in the field with a crappy MRE pizza slice.

"What about you, Alenko? You like it?"

Kaidan blinked. "I think this coffee might be too good for the field. Maybe you should serve this in some upscale place, instead. You can call it 'The Spectre Special' or something. I'm sure people will line up for a taste."

Shepard softly chuckled. "Maybe when I retire from the Spectres. Hell, maybe we can both retire and open a coffee shop, Alenko. With your ideas, you can be in charge." He nudged Kaidan on the shoulder, making another discharge spark pass between them.

"If we're talking retirement plans, I'm more than happy to be the bouncer for that place or something." Williams took a sip and furrowed her brows in thought. "You know what this needs? Muffins. I could be in charge of those too, they're the only thing I know how to make somewhat okay."

Shepard took another sip and laughed. "You got a deal, Chief. Maybe we'll call that place 'The Normandy', like the ship."

"Hey, maybe the coffee shop could be the ship itself," Kaidan added. "Move around the pods to make room for tables, and the galaxy map could be a bar."

"I like the way you think, Alenko. What about the cargo bay area?"

"Oh, I got an idea about that!"

As Williams continued to explain her plan for making the lowest deck a nightclub, Kaidan got comfortable with his crappy pizza and nice coffee.

He'd camped out with squadmates before, but this, here? There was something in the air—besides the danger of a geth ambush—that made everything cozy and welcoming. This was the squad he never wanted to leave, for as long as he served.


End file.
